IntroductionThe
format war for high-definition discs wages on, but for now, DVD is
still the reigning king of home video formats. We all have years of
back catalogue DVDs in our collections, and a solid player is of
paramount importance to any theater. High-resolution audio in the form
of SACD and DVD-Audio are still prominent and Denon makes several
levels of players capable of spinning CD, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio and SACD
discs, with their top of the line spinner being the DVD-5910CI priced
at $3,800. The DVD-5910CI is designed to be the primary source for a
high-end home theater or whole home distribution system and, as such,
offers connectivity not often found on consumer level goods. The “CI”
stands for Custom Integration. This is Denon’s way of identifying their
products with connectivity and control features for home integration
and theaters using advance control systems.

This flagship DVD player in the Denon line offers a
vast array of video-enhancing technologies, including Denon’s
proprietary Dual Discreet Video Circuitry with multi-directional
diagonal filtering to reduce jaggies, Denon Pixel Image correction to
make outlines appear more natural, 10-bit Precision Video Scaling™ by
DVDO up to 1080p via HDMI or 1080i via DVI-D, and the Realta T2™ HQV
chip to aid in smoothing out video artifacts. Video scaling can be set
to 480p/576p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p, or to automatically set itself to
your display’s resolution when using the HDMI connector. Advanced video
set-up options abound to adjust the output to your tastes and display
(or displays, as the case may be), allowing brightness, contrast, hue,
sharpness and even advanced Gamma correction to be stored in any of
five memories, in addition to the factory default. 14-bit/216 MHz video
DACs handle the conversion to analog signals to maximize the quality of
video from these outputs as well.

Denon didn’t go light on the audio side, either. For multi-channel
audio, the DVD-5910CI employs five discrete Burr Brown PCM-1792
24-bit/192 MHz DACs, as well as Denon’s own Advanced AL24 processing,
allowing up-sampling of CDs and DVDs via the analog outputs. Fully
digital bass management, speaker configuration, level and delay
controls are here for the analog outputs, but they can be bypassed to
DTS default settings. The unit is HDCD-compatible, THX Ultra®-certified
and has its own internal Dolby Digital and DTS decoders, as well as SRS
TruSurround for a simulated surround field from the front left and
right speakers for use in two-channel movie systems. Denon even offers
a “Pure Direct Mode,” which allows you to turn off the digital output
circuitry when using the analog outputs to maximize sound quality as
well as an SACD filter to limit ultra-high-frequency output from the
player.

The DVD-5910CI comes with a pair of analog RCA cables, a composite
video cable, a detachable two-prong power cord, a remote with
batteries, a Denon Link cord and an IEEE 1394 cable, as well as the
book-sized manual. Fortunately, the manual isn’t as bad as it seems. It
is in three languages, so the English section is only 85 pages long.
The remote is large and thick at the lower end, making it clunky to
handle even for my hands. It is backlit, albeit by pressing a
backlighting button, which is small, as are many of the buttons on this
remote. The buttons were laid out pretty well, however, and once
familiar with it, I easily identified frequently-used keys blindly. I
was happy to see discrete power on and off buttons on the remote,
something I often have to hunt for on other gear to program my
universal remote macros.

The
DVD-5910CI I received for review was a trade show sample and, as such,
the packaging was quite different from that of a new one you would
purchase at a retail venue. Denon is a strong company and always packs
their products well, and I am sure you would be happy with their
attention to detail and care in the packaging of this player. Unpacking
the player from the box was no light task, as the unit weighed 42
pounds and measured six-point-seven inches tall and 17.1 inches deep
and wide. It was the size of a receiver and weighed more than many of
them. The build quality was excellent, all the connectors were
high-quality machined RCA connectors and the buttons had an excellent
feel to them. The disc tray rolled out smoothly and had a brown tray
inside the otherwise entirely black finish. The player embodied the
classic Denon look of a simply finished black metal face with a
transverse line carved from side to side. A large display lay below the
disc tray in the middle of the front panel and was covered with
seemingly every trademark symbol associated with home theater. The hard
power and standby buttons were on the left of the display and transport
buttons lay to the right of the disc tray above the setup controls.
Most of the key set-up buttons were located on the front of the player,
yet Denon kept it all looking clean and neat.

On
the rear of the unit, I found HDCP-compliant HDMI and DVI-D digital
video outputs, as well as two sets of component video outs, one with
RCA connectors, one with BNC style connectors, two S-Video and two
composite video outputs. All the video outputs were active all the
time, allowing video to be sent to a multitude of sites in several
different formats from this single player. Stereo, 5.1 channel analog
RCA outputs, optical and coaxial digital outputs, two IEEE 1394 audio
outputs and Denon’s proprietary D-Link III connections were here, too.
An RS-232 port and remote IR in and out ports finished off the
connection options. All the connections were well-spaced across the
back panel, making them easy to access.

Set-up
I
started with this player in my bedroom system, comprised of a Denon
AVR-4306 receiver, powering the KEF KHT 5005.2 speaker system, and my
Panasonic TH-42PX60U plasma. Connecting this player to its sibling
receiver was, quite simply, as easy as it gets. I connected the D-Link
III cable between the two of them, ran an HDMI cable from the DVD
player to the receiver and plugged it in. After a quick trip through
the setup menus of both the receiver and DVD player, I was up and
running in minutes with any disc I wanted to play. When using the
D-Link III connector, the player communicates directly to your receiver
and the receiver does the speaker timing and distance settings. This
was, bar none, the easiest set-up of a component I can remember. The
player had excellent musicality and wondrous video performance in this
system, but after a while, I felt a player of this caliber should be
assessed in my reference system to allow it to show off its 1080p video
scaling, as well as audio on a more revealing system, so off it went to
the main rig for some serious critiquing.

I
connected the DVD-5910CI to my Meridian 861v4 AV preamp, both via the
5.1 analog outputs and the coaxial digital output. Video was run with a
Monster M1000 HDMI cable to a Meridian HDMax 421 HDMI switcher that fed
my Sony KDS-R70XBR2 rear-projection display. I used my Proceed HPA 2
and HPA 3 amplifiers for the Paradigm Reference Studio 100v4s, ADP 590
surrounds, CC-690 center channel and a Paradigm Servo 15v2 subwoofer
(review pending) and wired them with Transparent Reference balanced
interconnects and speaker wire. Electricity was filtered through Chang
Lightspeed HT 1000 and CLS 9900 amp power conditioners. Once all the
connections were made, I fired up a movie to test it out and ran into
an all too common problem: the DVD-5910CI wouldn’t pass a video signal
to my TV through the HDMax 421 switcher. I tried several different HDMI
cables and a Geffen HDMI 341 switcher in series, as well as on its own,
but finally connected the player directly to my TV’s HDMI input. I
tried using all video output options, including the Auto setting, but
no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get the player and display to make
the required HDCP handshake through either of my HDMI switchers. When
the player was connected directly to the display, it worked perfectly
and the auto setting immediately recognized my display’s 1080p
potential. While the HDMI output worked easily in one system, I had
troubles with it in another. This is not the fault of Denon, but rather
of the HDCP copy-protection scheme and its inherent problems; this
player is not immune to them.

For multi-channel audio, I
bypassed the Denon’s internal speaker set-up, as my AV preamp handles
that. I went through the menus, though, and they were clear and easily
followed. They allow you to adjust each speaker independently in
one-foot and one-decibel increments, with crossover frequencies
adjustable from 40 to 120 Hz in 20 Hz increments. While I didn’t
require this feature for either of my systems, they are crucial in
many, and Denon has done it right on this player, offering plenty of
flexibility and ease of use.